Path to Salvation
by Protonymic
Summary: Team Rocket has finally succeeded with their goal of taking over the country. All under them now live an existence serving them and them only, the idea of Pokemon trainers not affiliated with them a dream. Alex was spared from this fate when he was cast away from civilisation, but now wants to reclaim a place in the world, and starts by looking for his sister far, far away.
1. First Hint of Daylight

There was nothing but silence in the air.

Alex trod onwards, doing his best to stay somewhat hidden in whatever grass was left in Route 205. A Butterfree sat on his head, looking wherever he wasn't, keeping still much like its trainer who moved slowly and minimally. He knew this silence couldn't last for long, and was dreading the moment it would break more and more by the minute.

The grass and trees had grown back since the disaster a year ago, but Pokemon were scarce. Save the occasional Bidoof that fled immediately on sight, everything seemed dead. Even the plants, though clearly alive, felt hollow. Alex resisted stopping to take a closer look at them. Any mistakes and he'd never return from this trip. He hadn't even made it to Eterna City's entrance yet. If he faltered here, how'd he continue from there?

A small lake sat in the middle of the Route, a wooden pier across being the favoured path of trainers and anglers. This, of course, meant Alex would have to take the path around, where more tall grass would help hide him anyway. He turned towards a narrow path by a cliff's edge and inched his way through the silent waterside path. The lake that would usually be brimming with flopping magikarp had only a few in sight.

"Feee." He felt his Butterfree tug on his hair.

"What, Alpha? See something?"

He didn't get a fast response, as Alpha had leapt off his head and kicked him down, both of them narrowly avoiding a water jet from something in the lake. A figure jumped out, leaping at him with claws ready to do something to Alex he didn't want to imagine.

"Alpha! Sleep Powd-"

Before he has even finished his command, one of the Poke balls on his belt opened. A Starmie swooped out and immediately loosed a thunderbolt. Before the Golduck could even begin to land, it was pushed back by the force of the attack and sent tumbling into the water. Alex picked himself up, trembling as he dusted himself off.

"Thanks, Henriette." Alex held out the Starmie's Poke Ball to recall it, but with a limb it held his arm away. It then slipped into the water, hiding underneath the surface but staying close to him.

"You'll need to get back in once we're away from the water, of course. But I appreciate the thought." Alex put away the ball and moved on, Butterfree back on his head. The Starmie followed by his side, though underwater, till they went away from the lake and so it had to return. As they left the grass, dirt road gave way to a paved one. Eterna City, or whatever left of it, was close by.

"Right, you'll have to turn around now, Alpha. Keep your wings low, sleep powders ready?"

"Feee."

He felt his Butterfree shift on his head. He felt as if his heart could burst at any moment with how fast it was beating, but there was no turning back. He didn't know how much longer he could wait, but whatever he might find here would hopefully give him some kind of answer. Clue. Even an indication that there was an answer would be enough.

He froze as he took his first step into the city limits, half expecting to be attacked immediately. There was nothing, not even wind, and Henriette wasn't responding, so it was safe to say nothing would bother Alex for now. Many of the buildings were badly damaged; some had more conventional damage like charred walls, others had entire chunks missing, missing so neatly it looked like they were cut apart by a giant scalpel and merely separated. It wasn't his business to go about and ponder events like this, not right now, anyway.

First of all, he needed to find the Pokemon Centre. There were signs along the roadsides marked in red, weather and poorly maintained. Below them was a sign for a newer place, a 'Rest stop', the R painted bright red over the black background of the sign. Staying close to the sides of the buildings, he crept, burning into his mind the idea that somehow not even walking properly would ruin everything. He kept up this pace along the gray bricks that made up the untouched bits of the city, feeling a bit safer with their shadows blocking out the sun.

The Pokemon Center would be around the next corner. So far, so good. All that preparation paid off, thought Alex as he peeked around the corner. It was empty like the rest of what he had seen of the city, and for a moment he felt secure enough to break his caution and run straight for those glass doors, not noticing the two figures stepping out until it was almost too late.

"Who are you?"

"W-what? Intruder?"

The two people dressed in black cut him away from the Center's entrance. The red R on their chests told everything Alex needed to know. Before he could reach for his Poke balls, however, they had already thrown theirs. A Raticate and Golbat burst out, both baring their fangs to strike into him and his Butterfree.

"Now! The powder!"

The Butterfree leapt away from his head and scattered a cloud of greenish dust, forcing the opposing Pokemon away as Alex himself rushed backwards to ready another ball.

"Roy! Take the Golbat! Wing Attack!"

He aimed and tossed it upwards to release a Murkrow. It quickly slammed its wings into the Golbat, managing to hit the shoulders and almost knocking it out of the air.

"Now into the wings! Alpha, stun spore instead!"

Before the grunts could give another order, the Golbat had hit the ground and the Raticate was coated in a cloud of yellow powder, unable to move out.

"Stun the Golbat, Alpha! Roy, back to me - Peli! Slash the Raticate!"

In a single motion, Alex recalled his Murkrow and threw out a Gabite. While the Golbat now grounded was prevented from recovering by another burst of yellow dust from the Butterfree's wings, the Raticate was knocked upwards, large gashes on it made by the Gabite's claws.

"Raticate! No-" The grunt only had time to gasp before the next command was given.

"Other one too, Peli! Slash!"

Just as the spore cloud dissipated to show the Golbat splayed on the ground, the Gabite pounced on it, raking claws over it until it got flung away and laid still.

"Golbat!"

There were no more Poke balls on the grunt's belts. Their hands trembled as they recalled their injured pokemon, and both stared at Alex for far too long. He stared back, not sure what he wanted to do, either, very frightened of whatever was coming next. The grunts took slow steps back, then quickly broke into a sprint to get away, but not before Henriette broke out of its ball and shot a jet of water at both of them, knocking them to the ground. Alex hardly even had time to think after that.

"Alpha! Sleep powder now!"

The Butterfree rushed to them before they could crawl up. Perching right over them, it clouded the grunts with the same green powder as before. Their attempts to get up slowed, then quickly stilled.

Not so still was Alex's pulse, racing as he slowly approached the two grunts that he had knocked out. Now that he looked closer, they were just a little younger than he was. Twelve? Thirteen? A boy and a girl. He shuddered a little as he thought about how if things had went differently, he might have been in their place.

"Hmmmm."

His Starmie let loose a faint hum.

"No, it's fine. It was the best thing to do. I should have told you to do it, Henriette."

He hesitated as he was about to open their bags and pockets, but figuring it wasn't worth worrying about, dug through voraciously. A few potions was all that they even had, he couldn't bring himself to take all of them.

After his Pokemon helped him bring the two grunts into the center, Alex set about working with the Center's PC. By some miracle, it was left largely intact, the only difference being a note pasted on telling Team Rocket Grunts to report to the Galactic Eterna Building for supplies and Pokemon.

...

"Beep-beep."

That familiar tone. Not that he had used a Pokemon Center PC a lot himself, but he had seen it done plenty more times.

"ITEM STORAGED SYSTEM ACCESSED"

It was worth a try. Alex entered his own login, trying not to fumble too much with the keyboard.

"WITHDRAW/DEPOSIT?"

He was struggling to calm himself down now. It was all working. Inside his box were old things he knew he left behind, and some he was certain that he had never touched.

A map of Sinnoh, with the snowy northern region circled in pen. A small radio with batteries, too. Finally, a small locket with a photograph of two people. Both black haired, the smaller boy in front of the smiling girl.

"Look, Henriette."

He turned to his Starmie behind him, breathing heavily.

"It's big sis. She gave this to me. It's a message from her. I think we can find her now."

The jewel on the Starmie's core brightened as the boy fell on top of it.

"After so long, we'll both be seeing her again. It's okay now, It's all okay..."


	2. Morning Glory

The water was a path of stars. Lights shone above and below in Route 218's light. The time could hardly be called night, it was bright, bustling, and Alex was wide awake. When he was told to leave the house with his bag, he wondered if he was leaving for his Pokemon journey before morning, since he could hardly sleep. Nevermind the flaming trees that writhed as they burned, or the cries of Pokemon behind, everything he had waited for was coming.

Sis was with him, too. He couldn't see her face, it was too dark, though everything else was so bright. They rode Pokemon along the still water path, Alex atop her beloved Henriette behind. When they hit land in Jubilife, people melted out of the way as Sis led him through streets that cracked and shattered into nothing behind. The trail of starlight continued north outside the now-vanished city as they further strode over cliffs into a field of flowers twisting in the lights. They didn't stop, because he was in a hurry to start his journey, and as the flowers withered behind they passed windmills whose blades turned upwards and flew away, breaking the ground behind and leading it into the sky as well.

Not that it mattered. He was going to start his Pokemon journey in the morning. In fact, it could be starting right now! Everything became so bright that it was hard to see, and the only place unaffected was a forest of trees that were shaped like cages. He kept running by Sis' side, without caring for anything but her presence and his excitement, but he tripped when something suddenly appeared over his feet, binding him down. The roots of the trees themselves were bound around him as they grew into a cage with every joint chained to him in some way. Sis did not slow down or even look back, only kept walking on with her arms still by her side.

Why did they come here?

Why was she leaving him here?

He fought and fought, but the roots held fast against his meager attempts at breaking them. Sis kept walking away into the black void, then stopped as she reached the very furthest Alex could see. She reached somewhere down, opening a rectangular space like it were a door, exposing a space of white light that blinded him. He heard a door close, and there was nothing any more.

As nothingness swathed him, he slowly felt the sensation of his sleeping bag around him return, as with the weight of his eyelids. He opened them to see the roof of his tent, with Julia the Gastly floating near him, looking concerned.

"Morning, Julia."

He reached out for the Gastly to lick his hand as he thought about the dream. Henriette hadn't appeared in it in a while. In the past few iterations, Sis hadn't had nearly as much presence, usually he'd be seeing some of his old friends, too. Events a few days ago had greatly affected him, obviously.

It was 3 a.m, according to his watch. A little earlier than he had planned to wake up, but it made do. The unusually awake boy poured over his notebook, after releasing his team from their balls for them to freshen up for the day ahead.

No one in the tent said anything amidst the cool morning air. They were going to Sinnoh's northernmost tip, Snowpoint City, a trip further than any Alex had ever made. To make it there, they would need ample food, winter clothing, knowledge of the coming weather and places they could take shelter. Going through his preparation was the only way he could really convince himself they had a chance of making it. First of all, they'd have to make it to Eterna City, then through. The next obstacle would be the tunnels at Mount Coronet's base, which he estimated would take about a full day to navigate North. Then there would be Routes 216 and 217, which could take anywhere from five days to two weeks. He grasped a small locket around his neck, squeezing it every now and then. Sis' belongings helped.

Before he knew it, his Pokemon brought him his bags. Looking around him, everything but whatever he was holding had been packed up, leaving just the tent and his papers. His team stood before him, an air of determination from all of them. Checking inside the bags he didn't pack himself, everything was arranged just how he liked.

"You guys..." Alex was a little stunned, but smiled. Knowing that he had a team supporting him made everything feel better. They all called out in response. Quietly, of course, the others in their tents were sleeping. Figuring it was time to leave, he packed the last of his gear, taking in deep breaths of the forest's fresh air. He didn't know how long it would be till he would smell the scent of fresh, dew-speckled leaves again.

"One last look, and then we have to go."

Alex took in the view of tents in the camp, not sure what to feel. For the longest time it felt like a trap, but now that he was leaving for good he felt an urge to go back and huddle under a tent again, like he had every night. He shook it off, remembering also that with that came a terrible helplessness that taunted him whenever he felt safe. This was the only way. He had already made his decision.

_Sis, I'm coming. _

He turned about to find his Pokemon waiting behind, then recalled all but Alpha. As usual, the Butterfree perched on his head, using his eyesight to look out for anything Alex would need to know.

The air lost some of its comfort as they stepped out of the vegetation into Route 105. Alpha kept shifting around to look at all sides. Alex was thankful for that, he didn't dare look back himself. Thinking more about what lay ahead made running back under the trees more and more tempting, but a soft breeze at his back gently pushed him on. Save for footsteps there were no sounds on the way, and Alex had to concentrate quite hard to keep his thoughts in line.

As they reached the entrance gates, Alex got his mind back to the present around him. He'd chosen this early hour hoping to run into no resistance whatsoever. True enough, Eterna City's streets were empty, there'd be little reason for grunts to be about here anyway. As far as he knew, there was little of importance.

It was right then that he heard a large assortment of Pokemon cries. Instinctively he ducked and ran for the nearest building to hide, listening as carefully as he could. There was a smaller mass of footsteps near those cries, which meant that there were people. No, Rocket Grunts. This was no time to be optimistic. If all went well, he'd slip by them with no need to fight at all, though he could feel Henriette's unease from inside its ball. Alpha's slow wingbeats completely stopped, he too was still and concentrating on trying to see just about anything.

Alex rushed from street to street, corner to corner, intent on getting to the east exit as fast as feasibly possible. From what he could recall of the city's layout, every route he could take would bring him by wherever the mass of Pokemon were. He briefly thought about turning back and coming back another time, but shook off the idea. Any later and the snow past Mount Coronet would be too harsh to get through, not to mention this could mean Team Rocket might be using Eterna City for more active operations, and would be filled with many, many more grunts from now on.

The only thing he could do was listen carefully and move slowly. He didn't dare ask Alpha to fly up and scout, he'd be quickly added to whatever pile of Pokemon were captured there. As he peeked around a corner, there were unmistakably a group of Rocket Grunts, black attire and all poorly fitted on most of them as they scattered, fortunately in the opposite direction. They were all moving away from a large cage containing a wide array of Pokemon, cramped together and in what Alex could only describe as a sort of depressed chaos. A multitude of Pokemon were within, making half-hearted attempts at escape, despair evident in the ways they feebly tried to break their bars, if not how those behind simply lay about waiting for their fate.

Beyond this space further east would be a mess of streets that would eventually take Alex to Mount Coronet. It would be a while till he managed to get to the exit, and now that there were rockets prowling about there would be no room for error. Fortunately, he had a map scribbled down in his pocket, so he could try to memorize it as quickly as possible. With that in hand, he poked around the corner again to get his bearings. Right then, a purple ray came shooting towards him, leaving him only enough time to flinch.

"Damn it! Alpha, get..."

No, there still weren't any Rocket Grunts around. What shot... whatever that was? A flash of light came from somewhere in the large cage, and again a purple ray shot towards him. Alex put his arms in front of him to shield himself, but the ray passed them and hit the locket behind. Instantly, it vanished. He looked about in growing panic. Did it drop? It was then that he realised the map he was holding was gone too, and was nowhere nearby.

"Alpha, stay with me."

Making sure there really was no one about, he ran to the cage, large butterfly atop his head. As he approached, he saw amidst the mass of broken Pokemon a small, orange, vulpine one with eyes that were unusually bright, compared with the rest.

"Kii!" As Alex approached, it called out, putting away the stick it was biting on. It took out a small locket and piece of paper from underneath it with its mouth, waving both of them to Alex.

"Fennekin, those are important to me. Could I have them back?" Alex bent down to look at the Fennekin, but it shook its head, cheerfully gesturing towards the door of the cage to the side.

Alex first thought about how he would snatch his belongings back from the thief. Julia could probably slip through the bars and hypnotise the Fennekin into sleep, then take back his things, but that might cause a panic within the cage. If he just took them back, the Fennekin would steal it again or take something else.

"Right. You have my hands tied. Be quiet, then." Alex went over to the door. It had a simple combination padlock on it, and the numbers were even still pressed down. The Fennekin followed him from inside, dangling the paper and locket, while the other pokemon looked on curiously. Alex pressed down on the lock and, as slowly as he could, removed it.

"You all should run while you can.," Alex spoke, as he pulled open the door. "If you go west you might find some trainers you can help out–"

"HEY! WHO'S THERE?"

Just as Alex heard the voice behind him, the area erupted into chaos. The Pokemon inside seemed to have immediately regained their spirit, as they stampeded out and into the city. The cacophony of cries was useful to Alex, who in the confusion managed to get a good head start jogging to one of the eastern streets.

"Alpha, don't let go of me and get sleep powders ready! Rest of you, get ready to fight quickly!" Alarms starting ringing out around the city as he paced along a mass of Rattata, bringing grunts to the streets from their buildings.

"Stop right there–"

"Sleep Powder!"

Alex kept his head low while Alpha blew a cloud of green dust at the grunt in his way, bringing him to the ground. Command were being shouted over a megaphone now and there were sounds of battle, hopefully the wild Pokemon would buy them enough time. He hoped the Pokemon knew the way out too, he never got to retrieve his map or locket.

"Golbat, grab him–"

"Thunderbolt!"

Alex thrust a Poke ball upwards, without actually letting it go. Henriette burst out, flying upwards with the momentum of its ball, then unleashed a bolt of electricity at the Golbat. Before the knocked out Golbat even hit the ground, Alex drew his arm back as he recalled the Starmie that was still in midair, securing the ball back on his belt just as Henriette was fully drawn back.

He'd have time to congratulate himself for pulling that off later. For now he was focused on jogging on despite the load he was carrying, knowing that any faster and he'd completely lose his ability to fight once he stopped. The buildings were changing from the taller ones that made up the center of the city to smaller, more spread-out complexes, so in just a bit he might make it to safety. No matter how much he wanted to sprint and obey the pounding in his chest, he kept constant, not slow but not as fast as he would have liked.

"Fee... Fee!" His Butterfree flapped his wings excitedly, sensing something.

"Almost there, Alpha?" The noises were getting more distant. Just a bit more, and they would be out–"

"Not so fast, kid."

Alex stopped so suddenly that Alpha had to help pull him back from falling over. Right in front of them was the eastern exit to Mount Coronet, and in his way were three figures in black. The two to the sides were about his own size, busy handling nets that had been used to capture many of the wild pokemon trying to escape. Between them, right in the middle of the road, was a woman taller than any of the trainers present. She gazed menacingly at Alex, smirking with lips he found a little distracting.

"So you must be the one who managed to sneak in the other day. Am I right? You're such a cute little thing, too..." She laughed, and Alex fought hard to ignore the chill in his stomach upon hearing it. He focused first on her gaze, then about her body, watching for when her hands would move to her balls... those on her belt, of course.

"Aww, looks like you're the quiet type. Checking me out, aren't you, you naughty thing?" She put her fingers to her lips, throwing off his focus for just a single moment. The next thing he knew was Alpha slamming him to the ground and a whoosh of movement just over him.

"Drifblim, Shadow Ball!"

"Alpha, Confusion!" He rolled over and leapt up as fast as he could to see large balloon-like Pokemon being pushed away from him. His Butterfree's flight was a little haphazard, but he managed to counter the blow of the attack that hit with enough force. He fumbled for a second, but managed to draw the correct Poke Ball from his belt.

"Roy! Pursuit!" He threw the container upwards, letting loose a Murkrow that pecked ferociously at the Drifblim. What sounded like a burst of gas came from the Drifblim, shrieking as Roy found the worst spots to dig his talons into.

"Keep going! Take it down now!"

"Like hell you will! Tailwind!"

The Drifblim flapped what passed for its wings, and a stream of wind came down from its direction.

"How you going to run now, boy?" The Rocket woman laughed again, watching Alex as he stood frozen by his situation. "Thunderbolt!"

"Split up! Confuse it!" Roy and Alpha both flew in opposite directions, and the Drifblim decided to take out the one more immediately dangerous. It loosed a blast of electricity towards the Murkrow with stunning speed, the wind behind it allowing the attack to hit almost instantly. The Murkrow, fried by the blast, fell out of the air in a panic.

"Roy, return!" He held out the ball and managed to catch the Murkrow with the aim of his recall before the bird hit the ground, but it would still be a while before it could battle safely again. He'd pat himself on the back for that later if they made it out.

"Oh, now it's a fair fight again, huh? Thunderbo–"

"Alpha, get behind! Peli, go!"

In a single movement, Alex returned the spent poke ball and drew out another. He threw it right in the projected path of the Thunderbolt, releasing his Gabite so that it would absorb the blast for the Butterfree, rapidly flapping against the air current. Sure enough, Peli leapt out right in time to block the attack, leaving both of them unharmed.

"Naughty boys like you need to be punished. Don't you know fighting two on one is cheating?"

"Dual Chop! Alpha, keep trying!"

The woman didn't take being ignored very well. She was a Rocket Admin, and this was just some vagabond. Whatever, she thought. Let him focus on the battle he's going to lose anyway, as she fiddled with something in her pocket. His poor butterfly was trying so hard to fight off the wind, too.

The Gabite managed to leap up and land two square hits on the Drifblim, but it merely flew up and prepared to loose another Shadow Ball. Henriette could finish it off in one attack, but there was no way it could take any attack in return, so he didn't dare send it in. Gabite could take one hit, but then that would be it, thought Alex as he silently urged on Alpha, still flapping away as if in the throes of madness.

"Shadow Ball! Finish them off one by one!"

A shadowy blob formed between the Driflim's wings as the winds petered out. Just as it was ready to throw it, another gust of wind blew, this time at the Drifblim and forcing it out of balance.

"Tailwind, Alpha! Henriette, Ice Beam!" With the winds on his back, the boy sent out his Starmie, who rode them up as it fired a cold, white ray. As it made contact with the Drifblim, it shrieked again before falling to the ground, limp and shivering.

"Well, looks like you have a smart Butterfree there. Can't wait to see how you cry when I tear apart its wings in front of you." Alex tried his best to calm his breathing, to pay no attention to her words, waiting for the opportunity that must be lying ahead. He just had to wait until she tried to recall her Pokemon...

"Come back, Drifblim–"

"LET'S GO! ALPHA, SLEEP POWDER!"

With the winds at their back, they should be able to cover enough distance quickly enough, they had to. As the group ran, Alpha flew in front, preparing to cloud that woman in dust first."

"–go, Mamoswine! Ice Shard!"

A huge, hulking behemoth of a Pokemon materialised in front of the Admin. Before it made any sound, a small clump of ice formed and was thrown at Alpha, hitting his wings and freezing them and his spores.

"Damn it! Alpha, return–"

"Ice Shard!"

He had no time to do anything other recover the Butterfree thrashing about on the road. Before his other hand could even touch the other Poke ball he needed, his Gabite was already lying prone and still as bits of ice fell off him. It shouldn't be enough to take him out for more than a few hours, but this Mamoswine had already taken out two of his party.

"You look so precious when you're scared, little boy." The Admin gazed right into his widening grey eyes, savouring the fear in them. "You've got a fast Pokemon there, but you know I can hit you first, even through your little wind." She reached into her pocket and slipped out a cyan capsule, holding it up high.

"An X Speed. Not being a fugitive has its advantages, doesn't it? Come on, I can't wait to see you all helpless. Mamoswine, take this and– WHAT?"

Alex saw her raise the capsule. If the Mamoswine caught it, all would be lost. Was there even a way to stop it? Henriette stood in front of him, steadfast in shielding him from whatever would come, when suddenly a burst of flame appeared around the Admin's hand. When it disappeared, the capsule was gone and the Admin in a panic.

"NOW! SURF IT DOWN!"

He hardly needed to give a command, Henriette acted the moment he opened his mouth. Drawing an orb of water from itself, the Starmie rode the water as it turned into a large wave that crashed into the Mamoswine and the Admin, pulling a terrible roar from the Pokemon and a scream from its trainer.

"NO! Earthquake, Earthquake–"

"Surf!"

As the last of their tailwind died down, the second wave formed and swamped the Mamoswine again, knocking it to the ground helpless. The last thing the Rocket Admin saw, coughing and spluttering was a Gastly gazing right into her before she could remember no more. Alex stood still a bit, before falling onto a knee to catch his breath after everything.

His first thought was just that he was another step closer to seeing sis, though he'd lost her locket. As he returned Julia to her ball, he looked at the Admin knocked out before him, feeling the rush of adrenaline fade away. Sis was no such person, he thought, as he looked over her.

The second, as he looked around at the two young grunts, was wondering where the help at that last moment came from. The grunts, their faces some odd variant of fear, backed away and didn't stop him from searching the Admin for her gear to take with him. It wasn't a purple ray, a Psybeam like the Fennekin just now, but a Fennekin could have done that too. He noticed a burn on the Admin's hand, the flames back then weren't at all mild. Unfortunately, there was nothing inside the Admin's pockets that a Pokemon would know to use on their own. Whatever helped should share the spoils.

The third was that he was very proud of his team for taking him this far, as he left the city behind him while the sun in front grew brighter and brighter. The chills in him from before felt soothed and warmed, and it didn't feel like it was because of the morning rays. It was a good start to a new day, and he needed to set up a camp soon to prepare for the next hurdle.

Somewhere behind him, something was following his trail, a stranger's treasure held tight.


End file.
